The Portland Trail Blazers, down to a roster with more DNPs than combined games together on the floor, weren’t able to overcome the best team in the Western Conference, even without its All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker. The Blazers played like, well, a group of guys who basically met each other last week, while the Suns still enjoyed the luxury of general familiarity and experience.
Portland competed for a bit, but Phoenix was able to lock up Anfernee Simons after a productive first quarter, which all but ensured an upset just wasn’t in the cards.